Who drew Dana? Danaë (painting by Rembrandt)

The painting for which the beloved Saskia posed for Rembrandt was not created for sale. Written during the heyday of their love, it was too intimate, not intended for the indifferent eyes of others. He could not predict that years later he would lose this painting forever, and that in a few centuries all of humanity would almost lose it. Uncontrollably buying works of art, antique armor, musical instruments and turning the mansion he bought in Amsterdam into a kind of antique shop or small museum, Rembrandt spent considerable funds for these purposes, including the inheritance of his beloved wife. The status of a fashionable painter with an abundance of well-paid orders balanced this intemperance in spending.

But after the death of Saskia, the fiasco with the “Night Watch”, the gradual loss of interest in him from the public, who stopped loving his “dark” painting, bankruptcy turned out to be inevitable. Among the property seized for debts was “Danae”. At the end of the 18th century, in 1772, Catherine II acquired part of the collection of the legendary French collector Pierre Croz. One of the wealthiest Frenchmen, who together with his older brother provided financial assistance to the monarchs, he, like Rembrandt, spent enormous amounts of money on the purchase of works of art. Part of the inheritance, which included the masterpiece of the brilliant Dutchman, went to his son, Louis Antoine. The paintings purchased from his family laid the foundation for the Hermitage’s huge collection.

For one of his main paintings, Rembrandt chose a plot about King Acrisius and his daughter Danae. Frightened by the soothsayer's prediction that his own grandson would kill him, he made a radical decision. You can protect your daughter from an unwanted pregnancy by hiding her from prying eyes. So Danae found herself in an underground house with a copper palace under the supervision of a vigilant maid. It was not possible to avoid the prediction. Golden rain poured into the dungeon, announcing the visit of the king’s innocent daughter by the great Zeus. Perseus was born as a result of the immaculate conception. The birth of the baby did not go unnoticed. The reaction of the “happy” grandfather followed immediately: the servant was executed for neglect of her duties. Instead of a copper house underground, there is a cramped wooden box in which she and her son were thrown into the sea. An attentive admirer of Pushkin’s work will draw obvious analogies between the hardships of Danae and the misadventures of the slandered queen in “The Tale of Tsar Saltan,” who, together with her son Guidon, was put in a wooden barrel and sent to certain death in the depths of the sea. Alexander Sergeevich could get acquainted with the myth of the daughter of Acrisius while studying at the Lyceum thanks to the excellent teacher and expert on ancient history and culture Nikolai Fedorovich Koshansky.

Acrisius was unable to avoid death, since Danae and Perseus survived. At one of the sports competitions, where the king was present as a spectator, Perseus accidentally hit his grandfather with a sports equipment.

The plot of this myth has been used in world painting more than once, but it is Rembrandt’s work that differs from all others in its non-canonical depiction of the main character and raises a lot of questions. Almost every fragment of the picture can have an ambiguous interpretation. According to the traditional version, a naked woman lying on a bed is depicted at the moment of awakening. An uncrumpled bed is a symbol of innocence, as is an emerald ring on your finger.

The underground cell is filled with golden light, freely penetrating through the canopy pulled back by the maid. The woman’s hand, stretched out towards the radiance, seems to welcome new life and the happiness that comes with it. There is a smile on her lips, both innocent and sensual. There are shimmering reflections everywhere: on the velvet tablecloth, on the heavy folds of the canopy, on elegant shoes thrown to the floor, as if they had been splashed with golden rain.

It was the absence of obvious signs of the latter that became the reason for doubts of more than one generation of art critics. Is Danae depicted on it? It is known that some fragments of the painting were rewritten by Rembrandt, as a result of which Danae’s appearance underwent changes. Irrefutable evidence was the results of an x-ray study, according to which there was golden rain on the canvas. It is known that to achieve the effect of a mesmerizing golden glow, the artist mixed paints with crushed amber. The presence of decorative eagle heads on the bed indicates the visit of Zeus. These powerful birds are traditionally considered his symbol.

X-rays helped find answers to many other mysteries. It was possible to establish that the original version was written in accordance with the ancient myth. The gaze of the prisoner with the appearance of Saskia was turned upward, to the place from where the rain was falling. The hand gesture could be described not as a greeting, but as a farewell one. According to one version, the crying cupid with his hands tied, located above the headboard, used to laugh. On the other hand, he was worried before. Interpretations of his facial expression have varied. From torment over Danae’s lost innocence, to regrets that her love lasted so short.

The assumption of art critic Sergei Andronov, which clarified some important nuances, helped us get closer to understanding what was happening. If we assume that the picture depicts the end of a love affair, the direction of the gaze becomes clear. The girl looks into the open doorway of the canopy, where Zeus has disappeared, and waves to him goodbye. And the surprisingly rounded belly is evidence that it already contains the child of the Olympian god. The coral bracelet says the same thing. As an adult, Perseus beheads the gorgon Medusa. Corals are the frozen blood of a murdered gorgon.

The figure of the maid is of great interest. It was she who helped Zeus enter Danae’s chambers, paying for her disobedience with her life. A bunch of keys can also be seen as an erotic symbol: the key unlocks a lock, symbolizing the female genitals. The beret on the maid's head suggests that Rembrandt himself is depicted in her image.

The changes that have occurred in Danae's appearance have a completely banal explanation. Danaë's loss of the features of Saskia, who posed for this work of her husband (as well as for many others), occurred after her untimely death. The nurse of the only son Titus, left without a mother, brightened the life of the artist himself. Gradually, this connection led to the desire of Geertje Dirks not only to take the place of his departed wife, to take possession of her jewelry, but also to erase her image from Rembrandt’s memory. Yielding to her persuasion, he made considerable amendments to the appearance of the heroine of the ancient myth. Dirks' persistence backfired on her. By a court decision she was sent to hard labor for 12 years.

In connection with Danae, it is impossible not to mention the tragic incident that happened on June 15, 1985. A mentally ill visitor splashed sulfuric acid several times into the center of the canvas and stabbed him twice. Up to 30% of the painting's surface was lost. The restoration, which lasted for 12 years, allowed the masterpiece to be returned to art lovers. Now it is protected by armored glass.

Rembrandt's painting "Danae", which was under restoration for 12 years after a mentally unstable visitor doused it with acid, has been re-exhibited.

“Danae” (1636-1647) is a painting by Rembrandt from the Hermitage collection, based on the ancient Greek myth about Danae, the mother of Perseus.

When the king of the ancient Greek city of Argos learned of a prophecy according to which he was destined to die at the hand of the son of Danae, his daughter, he imprisoned her in a dungeon and assigned a maid to her. However, the god Zeus penetrated Danae in the form of golden rain and copulated with her, as a result of which Danae gave birth to a son, Perseus.

The restoration began in the Small Church of the Winter Palace, where climate and lighting suitable for the painting were created. For a year and a half, Hermitage restorers Evgeny Gerasimov, Alexander Rakhman, Gennady Shirokov and Tatyana Aleshina worked on the canvas. After strengthening the paint layer and primer and adding a new duplicating canvas, traces of the acid reaction were removed under a microscope. The next stage was toning using an oil painting technique similar to the author's style. One of the important conditions for the restoration was the requirement for the possibility of returning to the original version, for which the toning was separated from the original painting by a layer of varnish.

The restoration was finally completed only 12 years later, in 1997, since then the painting has been shown in the hall of the Dutch and Flemish schools on the second floor of the main building of the Hermitage.

Rembrandt began painting the painting “Danae” in 1636, 2 years after his marriage to Saskia van Uylenburch. The artist dearly loves his young wife, often depicting her in his paintings. “Danae,” written by Rembrandt not for sale, but for his home, was no exception.

Saskia, the artist's wife...

For a long time it remained a mystery why the resemblance to Saskia was not as obvious as in other paintings...
Only relatively recently, in the middle of the 20th century, with the help fluoroscopy managed to find the answer to this riddle .

In X-ray photographs, the resemblance to Rembrandt's wife is more obvious. It turns out that the painting was changed after the death of the artist’s wife (1642), at a time when he was in an intimate relationship with Gertje Dirks. Danae’s facial features in the painting were changed in such a way that they combined both of the artist’s favorite women.

In addition, fluoroscopy showed that the original image showed a golden shower falling on Danae, and her gaze was directed upward, not to the side. The angel at the head of the bed had a laughing face, and the woman's right hand was turned palm up.

When the Russian Empress Catherine II began selecting paintings for the Hermitage, she asked her good friend Denis Diderot to help her select materials for the collection. Diderot drew attention to part of the Crozat collection, which was owned by Baron Louis Antoine, which was acquired by Catherine in 1772 from the heirs of the baron who died in 1770. Among the paintings purchased were “Danae” by Rembrandt and “

Rembrandt. Danae. 1634-1648 State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg

“Before Rembrandt’s Danae I died of rapture” Korney Chukovsky

It is believed that if Rembrandt’s “Danae” had not been doused with acid, it would have been little known. After all, she became famous based on the same principle. If it had not been stolen one day, few people would now know about Gioconda.

May be so. It’s unlikely that they would google “Danae” so often. But they would still Google it. She's too unusual.

Surely you know the plot of “Danae”. A father imprisoned his daughter in a dark tower because of a prophecy. Which said that his grandson would kill him. So that he would never be born, the poor girl would have to spend her whole life in captivity. Only the old woman overseer was confined to her.

But Zeus liked the girl. He entered her prison in the form of a golden shower. Spent the night with her. Perseus was born, who, having matured, killed his grandfather. By accident, of course.

Left: Titian. Danae. 1556 Right: Orazio Gentileschi. 1621 Getty Museum, Los Angeles, USA

However, Rembrandt's depiction of the myth differs from other artists' versions.

In Titian and Gentileschi, Danae is an idealized image. Rembrandt's Danae is more human. Obviously, the prototype was a real woman.

In Rembrandt's painting we do not see the main attribute of the myth - golden rain. But the answer to this riddle has already been found. More on this below.

There is also a maid and Cupid in the picture. They are also not as clear-cut as those of other artists.

Now let's talk about everything in order.

1. Portrait of a wife or mistress?

It is known that Rembrandt wrote “Danae” for himself. Portraying his wife Saskia. We even see a ring on Danae's hand that looks like an engagement ring.

The painting was his property until his bankruptcy in 1654, when it was described in favor of paying off debts.

Why does Rembrandt's Danae look so little like his wife?

Compare Saskia as Danae and as Flora.

Right: Rembrandt. Saskia as Flora (fragment). 1634 State Hermitage Museum.

The difference between these women is obvious. Saskia has a small and snub nose. Danae's is straight and large.

Also note that the writing style is different. Danae is painted with warmer colors and vibrating strokes. Flora is depicted in a drier and more detailed manner.

Don't you think that the style is too different for two paintings painted in the same year?

An X-ray taken by the Hermitage staff in the 60s of the 20th century helped us solve this mystery.

Thanks to him, we learned that in 1634 Rembrandt actually depicted Saskia. Her features stood out clearly. X-rays also showed that the former Danae was wearing a pearl necklace. Which Saskia loved so much. She was also covered with a sheet.

However, Saskia died in 1642. The artist was consoled by Geertje Dirks. She was his son's nanny. And in 1648, Rembrandt rewrote the painting. Perhaps even at Gertier's request.

Indeed, Danae's resemblance to her is more obvious.

Left: Rembrandt. Geertje Dirks. 1645 National Gallery of Scotland

This is how in Danae the artist combined the features of two women. True, he parted with the second of them badly. Geertje Dirks demanded that the artist marry her. She sued him. Which obliged him to pay her an annual allowance.

She pursued Rembrandt as his creditor until the end of her life. Since the artist went bankrupt, he had nothing to pay her maintenance with.

2. Is there a self-portrait in “Danae”?

According to the myth, an old woman servant was assigned to Danae. Which, by the way, was executed for not keeping track of the girl’s virginity.

Look at this old woman. Something is clearly wrong here.

Rembrandt. Danaë (fragment). 1634 State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg

I noticed that the “old woman’s” facial features were masculine. And she looks too much like Rembrandt himself. He even has a self-portrait wearing the same beret.

Right: Rembrandt. Self-portrait. 1669 National Gallery London

A sketch for the painting has been preserved. It clearly shows that the old woman is wearing a characteristic women's cap. But in the picture there is no cap. Only the beret, the artist’s favorite headdress.

Rembrandt. Drawing for the painting “Danae”. 1635 bu.org

Another interesting point. In addition to the keys, the “old woman” seems to be holding... a palette and brushes. Although, of course, according to the official version, there is a bag in her hands. Which is needed to collect gold coins. After all, according to legend, they fell along with golden rain.

I found a version from a Boston University teacher that Rembrandt painted himself*. As a witness to a love miracle.

This technique was characteristic of Rembrandt. So, we see him at the feet of the crucified Christ in the painting “The Elevation of the Cross.”

Rembrandt. Raising the cross. 1632-1633 Alte Pinakothek, Munich. artchive.ru

This is how Rembrandt decided to depict himself next to his wife. And this is also not their first “portrait” together.

He once portrayed himself as the Prodigal Son. Still having fun in a riotous frenzy with a beauty on his lap. For which Saskia posed.

Rembrandt. The Prodigal Son in a Tavern. 1635 Old Masters Gallery, Dresden

3. What myth did Rembrandt depict?

It has been argued for a long time whether Rembrandt’s painting really depicts a plot from the myth of Danae. After all, there is no main attribute: golden shower.

In addition, Danae looks forward, and not upward, from where, according to legend, Zeus descended on her.

The answer was again found thanks to x-rays. Initially, in 1634 it rained! And Danae and the maid looked up.

But for some reason, Rembrandt changed more than just Danae's appearance. But he also forced her to look forward, not up. And instead of rain, light poured onto the girl.

I really like the version of art critic Sergei Andronov. Rembrandt decided 13 years later to paint another moment of the myth.

First he depicted a standard scene, which is captured in both Titian and Gentileschi. Zeus came in the form of golden rain. Danaya meets him with her head thrown back.

In the second version of 1648, Rembrandt depicted the woman’s farewell to the deity. The rain has passed, only light remains.

In this case, it is easy to explain why Cupid is depicted with such a suffering face. He alone knows that Zeus will never return to the woman.

Why Rembrandt's Danaë is special

So why did Korney Chukovsky “die of rapture” in front of Rembrandt’s Danae? What's so special about it?

She is amazingly natural. Yes, she is not as beautiful as Danae Gentileschi. Her breasts are smaller than accepted standards. Her hips are perhaps larger than necessary. The abdomen is relaxed and too large. Large legs.

Rembandt did not like to embellish those he portrayed. He was especially merciless to himself. He didn’t even flatter his beloved Saskia. And he painted her with a big belly, swollen after several births.

Etchings by Rembrandt. Left: Self-portrait with disheveled hair. 1631 Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin, Moscow; right: Nude Saskia. 1639 State Hermitage Museum

So by Rembrandt standards, Danae is beautiful. Despite her shortcomings, she is alive and humane. Her body is warm tones. The lines are smooth and cozy. This makes her mesmerize and captivate.

Apparently this is how Saskia was before giving birth. Her full belly had not yet floated. The thighs are large but strong. She was truly so beautiful. And Rembrandt again did not embellish anything.

PS. Danae's layers saved her life

I will not go into detail about how one inadequate person once (1985) doused Rembrandt’s masterpiece with sulfuric acid and stabbed it several times with a knife. A lot has been written about this.

One thing is important. The fact that Rembrandt rewrote the painting saved it. It was the thick layer of paint that played a significant role in its restoration. And it took 12 years to restore it. The painting returned to the Hermitage in 1997.

Read about another painting by the master in the article

Rembrandt Harmens van Rijn (1606-1669) is a great Dutch artist, whose art is practically fundamental for many generations of artists, both past and present and, most likely, the distant future. Perhaps the most famous painting, which can be called the artist’s “calling card,” is the beautiful work “Danae.”

"Danae"- a picture of the mythological genre. It was written between 1636 and 1647. In an amazing manner, it illustrates the ancient Greek myth of Danae, who became the earthly mother of the hero Perseus. The myth says that Danae was the daughter of the Argive king Acrisius. When Acrisius heard a prophecy that he was destined to die from his grandson, the son of Danae, he locked his daughter in a dungeon and assigned a maid to her. The god Zeus, the heavenly father of Perseus, was not stopped by the dungeons, and he penetrated to Danae in the form of golden rain. After this, Danae gave birth to Perseus, who later fulfilled the prophecy.

The plot of the ancient Greek myth about Gods, demigods and heroes was very popular among artists. For example, paintings with Danae and Zeus were painted by such great painters as Titian, Gustav Klimt, Correggio, Gossaert and others.

In Rembrandt's painting, his wife Van Uylenburch appears as the image of Danae. He painted this picture not for sale or by order, but for his own home. For a long time, researchers tried to unravel the mystery of the dissimilarity of Danae and Saskia, and only after fluoroscopy it was discovered that Rembrandt made changes in appearance after Saskia’s death. Then his new beloved woman became Geertje Dirks, whose face is recognized in the changed Danae.

The history of the painting “Danae” is rich in events. After the sale of Rembrandt's property in 1656, her trace was lost. Only in the 18th century it was discovered by the collector Pierre Croz, from whom Catherine II acquired it for the Hermitage in 1772. A tragic incident with a great painting by the famous master occurred on June 15, 1985, when a Lithuanian citizen Bronius Maigis entered the Hermitage on a tour, threw sulfuric acid onto the painting and cut the canvas twice with a knife. Maygis was declared mentally ill, and for a long time after that he was treated in a psychiatric hospital. The restoration of the painting was successfully completed only in 1997 and is now again presented to everyone, this time protected by armored glass.

Rembrandt Harmens van Rijn - Danae

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Rembrandt. "Danae." Description of one painting.

I met Rembrandt in early childhood, back when I was growing up in my native village, that is, when I was in elementary school. I remember how at night, completely impressed by the film about the artist, I was returning home from the club, as if falling into holes on the uneven roads, and in the heights there were garlands of bright stars, with their reflection on the river water.

Time will pass, I will often look into the Hermitage and, no, no, walk through the long hall with many transverse stands on the side of the windows, where paintings by Rembrandt are exhibited, one of the richest collections of masterpieces by the great Dutch artist. Over the years, I gave preference to Rubens or the little Dutch, but Rembrandt remained the measure of the hidden authenticity of art and life, which I felt, as it now seems to me, even in early childhood at the first contact with the life of a master still unknown to me.

In the portrait of the old woman at the entrance to the hall, I recognized something familiar from my grandmother, and I never particularly liked paintings on biblical themes. In the far corner by the window, a painting of a young naked woman even frightened me in my youth, but over the years I stopped in front of “Danae” if I found myself there alone.

There are plenty of naked female bodies, from ideally proportioned to very corpulent ones, in the Hermitage. Rembrandt's Danae is not just a model, in the reproduction of which there is always a convention, which is also noticeable in Titian in his versions of "Danae", but a woman in herself in the exciting moments of her life.

Meanwhile, we see her in a setting that is more Dutch-biblical than ancient Greek, according to the myth of Danae, who was visited by Zeus in the form of a golden shower. In Rembrandt, myth appears as life itself, and this is to a greater extent than in Leonardo da Vinci or Titian. In relation to Rembrandt they talk about realism and psychologism, all this is true, but at the same time it is obvious - Renaissance aesthetics!

And the era of Rembrandt, by obvious signs, is the era of the Renaissance in Holland, with its victory in the national liberation war against the rule of Spain and the completion of the bourgeois revolution. Holland quickly became a major trading and colonial power, with the establishment of universities, notably in Leiden, Rembrandt's birthplace. It was during this period, with the flourishing of sciences and arts, that a national literary language was formed in Holland, which is associated with the formation of the nation - these are Renaissance phenomena.

Like Durer, like Rubens, Rembrandt is the brightest splash of the Northern Renaissance with its specific features. Only such a view explains the universalism and scale of genius among his compatriots, the small Dutch, and his loneliness, which by the end of his life would turn into almost poverty. Rembrandt's Renaissance aesthetics is based on humanism - not elitist, but addressed to people outside the class hierarchy, one might say, anti-bourgeois, as in Russia in the 19th century.

The main dominant of his worldview and creativity is man, no matter who he is, while for him he embodied all of nature along with fauna and flora. In nature, there are no or few correct forms, it is important for an artist to be faithful to nature, this is Rembrandt’s credo, hence his realism, which, it would seem, is not very different from the poetic naturalism of the small Dutch, but the scale is not the same. It’s not even a matter of the size of the canvases; Rembrandt is simply a giant in comparison with them in terms of the scale of his genius and creativity, and his realism is inspired by psychologism, which manifests his humanism, love and compassion for man, no matter who he is.

Rembrandt van Rijn was born on July 15, 1606 in Leiden into the family of a middle-class miller; he was the eighth child and the only one whose parents took special care of his education. He studied at the Latin school and at the university, when his inclination for painting manifested itself so clearly that he left the university; at that time it was unlikely that a young man could do this without the consent of the family. He studied painting for three years in the studio of Jacob van Swanenburch, a Leiden painter who came from a patrician family and spent many years in Italy.

Then, to continue his studies, he goes not to Italy, but to Amsterdam, and enters the workshop of Pieter Lastman, the head of the Amsterdam school of historical painting; at that time, events from history, mythology and literature were equally called stories and served as themes for historical painting. Rembrandt spent only six months in the workshop of Pieter Lastman (1625); it is true that he was drawn more towards Frans Hals, towards his full-blooded art, which was essentially Renaissance. Rembrandt overcomes the academicism of historical painting in Holland by depicting a specific person as he sees him today and now. In his biblical and ancient subjects, myth and life merge, which is noted as a new quality that, with Rembrandt, entered Dutch painting. Meanwhile, this is a property of Renaissance aesthetics.

Upon returning to Leiden, Rembrandt devoted himself to independent work and within five years achieved fame, with which he settled in Amsterdam (1631). The nation's self-awareness finds expression in the flourishing of portraiture. Rembrandt works primarily on portraits, competing with Frans Hals. This also applies to group portraits, corporate, one might say. The very first experience of “Dr. Tulp’s Anatomy Lesson” brings success and fame to the young artist from Leiden. He has his own house, students. Rembrandt collects works of painting and graphics, ancient sculpture, samples of precious fabrics and artistic weapons.

In 1634, Rembrandt married Saskia van Uylenburch, an orphan from a wealthy patrician family, with a very significant dowry. Everything suggests that this marriage, in addition to a natural business transaction at that time, was sanctified by love, so fruitful for creativity. He wrote to Saskia constantly. The Hermitage “Flora” is Saskia dismantled in every possible way in all the strength of her youth.

The “Self-Portrait with Saskia on Her Lap” is well known. At a time of success and happiness, Rembrandt paints himself as a feasting prodigal son, indulging in the carefree cheerfulness of youth, like the artists of the Renaissance in Italy. And the famous painting “Danae” (1636) is naturally associated with Saskia, only her appearance is not entirely recognizable, and the painting seems to be of a later date than the known date of creation of Rembrandt’s undoubtedly best masterpiece.

Saskia, who was in poor health, gave birth to weak children and died (in general, child mortality in those days was high); Only the last child, Titus, survived, and the mother died a year later - in 1642. This year was also marked by a conflict with customers over the painting, which later received the name “Night Watch”; it was supposed to be just a group portrait of the shooters, and Rembrandt created a complete work of art, in which not everyone recognized themselves in a worthy, in their opinion, form. From this time on, the artist's popularity began to decline. The Renaissance era, with the triumph of bourgeois reality, ended during Rembrandt’s lifetime, which I am now witnessing with my own eyes in Russia.

In the same 1642, Rembrandt painted a painting on the biblical theme, “David’s Farewell to Jonathan,” imagining himself as Jonathan and Saskia as young David. In the artist’s work, researchers notice a romantic elation, designating the time as transitional, to what? Back to realism? No, here again we see the aesthetics of the Renaissance, in which the romantic content of a worldview or era is embodied in a classical form, which is very unique for the Dutch artist. Rembrandt, having experienced grief with the death of Saskia, is again in love with life and with a woman, even if it is his maid Gertje Dirks. It was this new love of the artist that cast a veil of secrecy over the painting “Danae”.

Rembrandt especially valued “Danae”, because it was not one of his regular paintings that should be sold at a profit, but an intimate portrait of his young wife. He did not want to part with her, but the picture could arouse the jealousy of his beloved maid. There are reports of quarrels between the artist and Geertje Dirks and, ultimately, a breakup. Meanwhile, Rembrandt may have been dissatisfied with the 1636 version of the painting and tempted to rewrite it. And so it happened.

X-ray examination showed changes in the central part of the picture and the heroine’s facial features. Gertje's face was superimposed on Saskia's face. Now Danae’s face is a combination of the features of the artist’s wife and his lover. Only on the x-ray does Saskia's face appear more clearly. Rembrandt, even without an X-ray, saw her features, her smile of love and happiness. Danae opens up to the golden radiance with touching joy.

It is said that Rembrandt did not strive to depict an ideally beautiful body, like other artists, and that the appearance of his model is far from perfect beauty. But such is the aesthetics of the Renaissance in Holland, as it was with Shakespeare. Femininity in her maturity, the naturalness of her movements and feelings, full of love and grace, distinguish the young lady as an exceptional image, worthy of the love and admiration of Jupiter and Rembrandt himself.

Perhaps the original painting was more intimate and even romantic, like a real portrait of the artist’s young wife; years later, with increased skill, Rembrandt did not simply change Saskia's features under Geertje Dirks, but created a classic work of art, an unsurpassed masterpiece of Renaissance genius.

Rembrandt achieves classical simplicity, as seen in his development of the Holy Family theme in a number of paintings. The Mother of God appears in Rembrandt in the guise of the wife of a Dutch artisan - a carpenter. This is not a genre painting in the spirit of the small Dutch; here life and myth merge, national and biblical, which is the basis of the classical style of the Northern Renaissance.

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Pictures on the wall Babur was born in 1483, in the midst of winter, when snow covered the mountain slopes up to the cherry orchards and blocked the passes, so that the valley could only be reached along the Samarkand road winding along the river. The valley was practically cut off from

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Paintings by Picasso For the first time - “Evening Moscow”, 1927, July 20, No. 162. In addition to two huge Salons - “right” and “left” - I visited several small exhibitions, of which the most remarkable are: an exhibition of four masters and a retrospective containing everything in you

From the book About Art [Volume 1. Art in the West] author Lunacharsky Anatoly Vasilievich

by Kiele Peter

Karl Bryullov. Portrait of Countess Yu. P. Samoilova with A. Paccini. Description of one painting. It’s easy to notice that women’s faces in Karl Bryullov’s paintings are similar, constituting a certain female type, a favorite oval, for which he seems to show a predilection, perhaps without giving

From the book Treasures of Women Stories of Love and Creations by Kiele Peter

V. Serov Portrait of Princess Z. N. Yusupova Description of one painting. This is a unique picture. One of the world masterpieces of Russian art. You understand this immediately when, walking past the halls of the Russian Museum, you suddenly stop. Everything came together here: an extraordinary model and

From the book Treasures of Women Stories of Love and Creations by Kiele Peter

K. Somov. Portrait of E. P. Nosova. Description of one painting. In 1910, in the days when Somov arrived in Moscow and began work on the portrait of Euphemia Pavlovna Nosova, he wrote in letters: “Blonde, thin, with a pale face, a proud look and very elegant, of good taste

From the book Treasures of Women Stories of Love and Creations by Kiele Peter

Zinaida Serebryakova. Self-portrait with daughters. Description of one painting. Zinaida Evgenievna Serebryakova (1884-1967) occupies a very special place in the history of Russian painting, as do all outstanding Russian artists, Aivazovsky or Shishkin, Levitan or Korovin, Serov

From the book The Christian Church in the High Middle Ages author Simonova N.V.